Monday, August 11, 2014

A new G24 to change the world?

The office from which I work.

I am venturing a new initiative (to be carried out by others with, if needed, some help by me): would it be
possible to bring together (via e-mail) a group of about 24 people, experts on urgent
global issues and how to solve them, working in different places around the world, and discuss
among them a plan of action to "change the world"?

There are many good ideas about urgent global issues and ways to solve them but so far they have not received the support from policymakers. So the question is how to get these good ideas implemented.

What I have in mind is that a group of experts visits parliaments in countries around the globe to inform parliamentarians about the way
some urgent global issues could be resolved. Such visits should be accompanied by a media campaign.

Is this a viable initiative?

I think it needs the support of first-class, independent scholars from various countries around the globe and a few expert activists and organisers like myself.

If you are interested in the ventured initiative and have some thoughts of how it could be brought about and what its effects might be, I would encourage you to send me a note including if you would like to explain why it is not viable:
jj.teunissen@fondad.org

About Me

As a kid I liked numbers and the sound of strings. I considered studying engineering but chose social sciences because of my interest in people. I combine a theoretical interest with a practical, social approach which brought me to the sphere of policy research. I am interested in reducing the disparity between poor and rich, between the powerful and the less powerful.
In 1973 and 1982 I lived in Latin America. In the mid-1980s, I was able to create an international forum to discuss the functioning of the international monetary system and the debt crisis, the Forum on Debt and Development (FONDAD). I established it with the view that the debt crisis of the 1980s was a symptom of a malfunctioning, flawed global monetary and financial system.
I was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the European Network on Debt and Development that was established at the end of the 1980s to help put pressure on European policymakers.
In 1990, before the beginning of the Gulf War, I cofounded the Golfgroep, a discussion group about international politics comprising journalists, scientists, politicians and activists that meets regularly.
The website of FONDAD is www.fondad.org